Computer systems are usually supplied by a power supply system which provides an AC voltage. Methods which, to determine the power consumption of the computer system, determine the power consumption of a power supply unit on the primary side of the power supply unit are generally known.
The problem of such an approach is that the supply voltage is an AC voltage. As a result, the power consumption cannot be easily determined by multiplying the current and voltage, but rather integration methods must be used. These methods must integrate over a particular period, with the result that data relating to the primary-side power consumption of the computer system can be transmitted to the computer system only at relatively large intervals of time.
Processors of a computer system can be restricted if it is determined that the power consumption of the computer system exceeds a certain limit value. As the operational reliability of the computer system becomes greater, the faster the computer system can react to fluctuations in the power consumption of the computer system.
It could accordingly be helpful to provide a method of determining the primary-side power consumption of a power supply unit, which method operates more quickly or more easily than known integration methods, in particular.